Armour Tannery, Williamsport Pa

 
Armour Leather Co, 500 Arch St Williamsport PA

Today, Brodart, the building was built in 1919, " J.K. Mosser Tannery, a plant of the Armour Leather Company, located in Newberry"

Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed.

Trimming and washing room in the tannery

"By 1880, Pennsylvania had 890 tanneries, with many located in Tioga County. These tanneries primarily produced sole leather and coarser leathers used in factory belts and harnesses. They were strategically located near the region’s rich forests, as the industry relied on the bark of oak and hemlock trees for tannin, a crucial ingredient in the tanning process" - from the Lumber Heritage website

Hides in the Mosser Tannery

J.K Mosser established his tannery in 1876; by the time his plant in Newberry reached its full capacity, it covered 14 acres and had an annual output of more than 100,000 finished hides. It had 365 vats and more than 275 employees.

A "tanner pusher" at the Mosser Tannery.  These trains ran on tacks 24 inches wide, less than half the size of standard tracks.  They moved railcars that transported hides from the tannery. 

Machine in the Mosser Tannery

In 1914 the company was acquired by the Armour Leather Company and operated until the mid-1960s. It became the world’s largest cut sole factory.

From the Williamsport Sun, June 1919:

"Recommendations have just been drawn up by the J.K. Mosser Tannery, a plant of the Armour Leather Company, located in Newberry, which calls for the erection of a new six-story manufacturing building on Arch Street, for the purpose of expanding the cutting business of the local company.

When the new department is in operation it is expected that the workforce at the factory will triple.

According to present plans, the new structure will be built of reinforced concrete, with brick facings and up-to-date and modern in every detail. Plans call for 35,000 feet of floor space. The building will have frontage of 150 feet on Arch Street, 302 feet in depth and 196 feet in the rear, where the new structure will adjoin the present property.

The building will be erected on property that the company has owned for some time and also includes the recent purchase of a 50-foot lot on Arch Street secured from James Davison. Arrangements are now being made to move the dwellings on Arch Street that now stand on the site for the new building, to other locations. Realizing the need for housing facilities the company has taken this step instead of tearing the dwellings down."

The J.K. Mosser Tannery encompassed 58 buildings on 2,300 acres, with 1,200 feet on West third street and 1,600 feet along the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad tracks.  The operation was half tanning, and half manufacturing.

In July of 1933, the Alex Brothers, a subsidiary of Armour Leather, manufactured a belt 86 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 5/8ths of an inch thick.  The belt was made from 285 hides put together with special cement, and weighed more than 2,000 lbs. 

Ted Mullett, in his memoir recalling his time playing in the original Little League, wrote: "I was born in 1930 and lived with my parents in a rental house on Newberry Street. Eddie Younken lived a black away on Apple Street and we both attended Webster School. However, in 1938 my dad was promoted to superintendent of the Armour Leather factory so we moved into one of the company houses opposite the tannery on West Third Street, and I transferred to Lincoln School." 

Newberry station was later used for the Blue and White Diner.

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1958 article on the Tannery Waste